| October |

The second we came back home, life continued like it always had. The honeymoon had to end at some point, but even though we were no longer in Spain, we still found ourselves spending our nights in bed, doing very married stuff and continuing the honeymoon in private.

But now that we were back in New York, it was time to get back to work. Eli and Mia had dropped Elana back home to us, Eli not even as much as speaking a word to us, but rather glared at us both murderously. He was still pissed at how we had left them at the wedding, bouquet in hand.

"I'm honestly fine," Mia had told us in confidence, after Eli had stepped outside to grab a smoke. "I'm not waiting around for a ring. That's not the reason I'm with him. Ring or no ring, I'm his for as long as he wants me."

We hadn't said anything, but me and Smurf had shared a discreet look while Mia had busied herself with Elana, who had gotten a new pikachu plushie from her favorite aunt.

We both knew Mia and Eli were air tight and weren't likely to break up anytime soon, but Goddamn both of them were piss poor at talking about the true meaning of their feelings to each other. Eli only growled and grunted vague shit, while Mia was too scared to overwhelm him with what she was feeling, since the last time she unloaded her feelings on him, he bailed. They had both come a long way since then, and I knew Eli wasn't about to bail again, because as much as he tried to fight it, he loved that girl. If he didn't want to be with her, he would've left long ago.

But he had hadn't. He had stayed with her for more than a year now, which meant he was balls deep in love with her, and he was an idiot for not locking her down yet.

"Maybe they're just not the marrying types," Smurf had said, after Eli and Mia had left to catch their plane back to L.A. Elana had gone down for a nap and left us to unpack all of her luggage from staying with them for two weeks.

"I know, and I'm not saying they have to marry, but come on. You don't think Mia would want to walk down an aisle in some pretty white dress, all dolled up?" I mused, only half-joking. Mia liked her pretty dresses and big fanfare, but I knew she wasn't the same vain girl she used to be. Eli had grounded her in a good way, just as she had brought him up to a likable level of grumpy.

"I don't know," Smurf murmured, sighing as she unfolded some of Elana's clothes and dumped it into the laundry basket. "I think she's just happy as long as he stays with her. She loves him so much, but maybe..."

"Maybe what?" I asked when Smurf bit her lip, hesitantly.

"Maybe she's still afraid he's going to run out on her one day," She said, which had me frowning. "I mean, can you blame her? C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S is still watching them, and maybe she feels that... as long as they're watching them, he'll always be in danger. And you know Eli. He wouldn't wanna put anyone he loves in danger, he'd rather leave without a trace and protect us all."

"But she must know that we're hot on their trail, right?" I said, walking up to Smurf and wrapping my arms around her when she lowered her gaze in worry. "That history is not going to repeat itself, because we've grown smarter since then. We're all as safe as we could be."

"I know," She whispered, but she didn't sound as sure as I would've liked her to. "All I'm saying is that... I get why Mia is worried, is all."

Both of us had stayed quiet after that, Smurf continuing to unpack while I had silently mulled over her words.

Some part of me understood everything Smurf had said and why Mia supposedly was scared, even though we had all come a long way from the past. C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S was still out there, they were still watching us as we were watching them. The contract we had nailed them with last year was no longer valid, since they had long changed their game and made every file we ever stole from them null. Without the physical proof—which they had erased—there was no paper trail that could ever keep us safe. The only thing that was keeping us in check with them was...

The Boss.

Whatever game he was playing with them was all that was keeping us all safe, which meant as long as he kept his head in the game and stayed one step ahead, we were all perfectly safe.

~~~

"Fucking bullshit," Eli grunted through the phone.

"Why do you say that?" I spoke back, defensively. "You don't trust us to run this?"

Eli scoffed into the phone, which only annoyed me more. I heard him drag in a breath of air, before blowing out what sounded like heavy smoke.

"It's that I don't trust them," He bit back, shuffling the phone around. "You think just because your big bad Boss flashes his face at them, they're going to cower away and leave us be? If that's the case, then no, I don't fucking trust you, because that's ridiculous."

"Eli—"

"They grabbed me in front of fifty media vans, in his fucking school. Right in front of his face," Eli growled harshly. "They grabbed you less than one mile from your home and sliced your kneecaps in a wide open public space. You think they're scared of anyone? Think again."

I felt my head throb with every word come from Eli's mouth. It felt like he was speaking a truth I had been suppressing for months, maybe out of fear or maybe because I didn't want to realize that we weren't actually as safe as we wanted to be. Suddenly everything felt like a lie. We weren't safe at all.

"Ask yourself this," Eli rumbled darkly, which had my gut clenching with something bad. "What's keeping them from showing up at your front door and taking all of you out? You've been messing with them and their business for so long, you'd be easier to kill than to use. You really wanna put your faith in your big boss keeping you safe with the promise of his word? That's cute. I once trusted someone's word as well. Want me to remind you how that worked out?"

"Alright, I get it," I snapped, rubbing my temple and sighing heavily. This was a fucking mess, but one thing was bothering me. "So if you're so convinced we're so unsafe, why haven't we all been taken out and dumped in the Hudson River yet? If we're bothering them so much, why are they still playing the game with us?"

"Finally, you're asking the right question," Eli snarled, which made me grit my teeth. "Why don't you go ask your big Boss about that."

He hung up the phone before I could interject an answer.

Hearing the empty beeping, I closed my eyes and let the phone dip into the bed as I let it go and instead clutched my face.

As much as I hated every word Eli had spoken, he had woken me up to a harsh truth; we were all still in deep danger, and yet for some reason, C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S hadn't made their big move to take us out yet. That was somehow the most nerve wracking part of it all; the fact that they were letting us toy with them. And for what reason? What was their endgame in this twisted shit?

Maybe Eli was right. Maybe what I needed was to go ask the big boss just what he thought about all of this.

I don't know why I thought things were finally starting to look up.

~~~

Mr Stone looked worse than ever as I sat down in the chair in front of his desk and watched his tired face.

While I had been buried in honeymoon bliss and ignorance (apparently), the big boss had been working non-stop on working out the very things I put before him that very morning.

"Since our favorite agents are currently indisposed," He started, referring to Agent Rya and Vincenzo, who were both on happy maternity leave, tending to their little boy, "I've been in contact with a few other agents from AISE whom they were happy enough to lend me for my investigation. Agent Santino vouched for their characters. They've been keeping eyes on the Russians as well as the known C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S affiliates we know of, both of which had been very idle in their behavior. The Russians appear to be working on some large money laundering scheme, while C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S... well, they're doing what they do best," He finished.

"So what you're saying is nothing is changed and they're still not plotting to make a move?" I asked, furrowing my brows in frustration.

Something was definitely way off. A month or two of idle behavior was acceptable maybe, but six months? No fucking way. They were plotting something big, but they were being way too low key about it.

"Oh, they're plotting something, alright," He replied grimly, his face twisting with a hard grimace. "They've been harassing me for a few weeks. It's the usual propaganda, but lately it's been more persistent. They want us to shut down your program that's hacking all their information, but that's nothing new either."

"Good luck trying to make that happen," I muttered, before frowning deeply in thought again.

The facts we were gathering didn't seem to wanna add up; according to Eli, we were sitting ducks, but according to the boss, neither C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S or the Russians appeared to be gunning for us. Instead, they were doing dull criminal stuff and sending pathetic threats to Stone Inc.'s voicemail. Meanwhile we had nothing we could do about anything, since a plan to shut them down forever would include taking down a fragment of the government of the United States. Small shit, right?

"So what the fuck do we do?" I sighed with a headache, rubbing my face in my hand. "Do we really just stay here like sitting ducks and wait for them to make a move? Because I've gotta tell you, I didn't really much fancy the last time they made a move."

I let one hand fall to my bad knee, which started aching with psychosomatic pain as I remembered how they had butchered me in that parking garage. I ignored the pain and instead focused on the boss's face who was staring morosely at my knee as well with a twinge of guilt staining his features.

"I've already made the next move to take that issue off our plate," He then finally said, clearing his throat and digging into one of his desk drawers. After a moment, he pulled a manila folder out and tossed it at me. I grabbed it and opened it.

"Protection detail?" I said, lifting a brow.

"AISE was kind enough to recommend us a private security firm they've worked with in the past. I've done my own research on them as well, just to be sure, and they're legit. I've already contacted them for an extended contract for a personal protection detail. I wanted to discuss it with you and Zoe first, though."

A protection detail. Bodyguards, essentially. In a way, we probably should've done something like this way sooner, but so far we had only been in a polite and political war with C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S, at least until the Russians decided to take things personal, after we messed with them in Russia. Agent Santino and Agent Rya had kept them in check on their end, just as AISE had, but now it appeared it was no longer enough.

"I don't think Zoe will mind," I said, closing the folder and laying it back on his desk. "If it'll keep us safe, I think we can live with a few shadows. The only question is, how long are we supposed to live like this?"

"I'm not sure yet," The boss confessed with a frustrated tone to his voice. "But it's the best I can offer for now. Just know I expect them to make a move soon. And when they do, I'm not gonna stay idle anymore," He vowed, clenching his jaw tightly. "When they make their move, I'm going to end this once and for all."

"And I'll be there to help you," I stated, nodding firmly. "We all will."

The big boss nodded back, before sighing heavily and leaning back in his chair with an exhausted expression. It was the same expression he always carried, but lately it had seemed... deeper. More prominent. And something told me it wasn't just work tearing him down anymore.

"You can say the word, you know," I carefully said, seeing him close his eyes to hide the pain that no doubt filled them as soon as I spoke. "Just say the word and I'll—"

"No. And that's enough on it."

I piped down again and respected the agreement we had struck. It was just hard to see him struggle and knowing you held the key that could release his pain. Just one little tap of a key...

"I should get back to the wifey then," I said, slowly standing up. "I appreciate what you're doing for us all. I know this isn't easy, and I want you to know that no matter what, we trust you."

He smiled faintly and gave a short nod. "Give my love to Zoe and Elana."

"Will do, boss."

And with that, I left him to the solitary he had chosen.

~~~

"So C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S isn't making any moves as of yet, which means we can't make any moves yet either... which means the Russians aren't making any either, because... we're all waiting for C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S to pull some big scheme out of their asses?" Zoe summed up as we walked through the park later that day, watching Elana run ahead up front with a stick she had found. A stick that was apparently a sword which she was fending off monsters with ahead on our path.

"Yes," I confirmed, which made Zoe groan in annoyance and frustration, just as I had. "It's the most annoying edging game I've ever been a part of."

"But then... all we have to do is try and predict what C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S will do," She said, frowning lightly as she began thinking. "And since we're already monitoring their movements..."

"And that's the problem; they're not showing that they're making any movements," I stated, taking her hand and twining my fingers with hers. "Whatever they're doing, they're keeping it off the books and under the radar. According to AISE, they don't see them doing anything irregular or out of the ordinary that would indicate any sussy shit."

Smurf blew out a breath and let her head tip back to stare at the sky for a moment. She then drew in a deep breath and clenched my hand.

"Then I suppose we'll just have to wait," She muttered, although I could feel it was sitting as well with her as it was with me and the big boss; playing sitting ducks was not a good feeling, no matter how many assigned bodyguards we got.

We finally arrived at the playground and sat down on a bench, watching Elana immediately climb the slide and clap as she scooted down on her butt. The stick sword was long forgotten by now.

"We should think of something to do in the meanwhile that'll take our minds off things," I said, seeing Smurf already looking worried over the weeks and months to come. "If we sit around and just focus on bad shit we can't predict when is coming, we'll go mad. We have to do something to distract ourselves."

"What do you suggest?" She murmured, looking down at our twined hands. The gold wedding band on my finger brought a little smile to her face.

"I can think of a few things," I grinned, squeezing her hand and sending her a suggestive look. She immediately rolled her eyes.

"We already do that non-stop. I get sore, you know."

Like my dick wasn't spent as well, but damn it if that was going to stop me anyhow. "Alright, alright... well, there's always Halloween and thanksgiving coming up soon. We could maybe take Elana to a—"

"Elana!" Smurf sprung up and started running towards her on the playground when she had crouched down by a bush and was messing with something.

I hurried up after her and winced as my knee pinched when I tried to jog up to them, Smurf already at her side and staring at something with wide eyes. "What is it?" I wanted to know.

I finally made it to my sister and Smurf and crouched down next to Elana to see what had stolen her attention away from the playground. Usually nothing could tear her away from the swings, but something had clearly seemed more exciting.

– And that something turned out to be a curled up ball of hair and dirt.

"What the poo is that?" I exclaimed, already worried about the bacterias on my baby sister's hand as she continued petting the dirty ball of hair. "Smurf, please tell me that's not a dead rat."

"No," Smurf gasped, slowly bringing her own hand down to touch the dirt ball. "It's... it's alive! It's a puppy!"

"A puppy?!" I immediately zoned in and found Smurf carefully lifting the little ball of fur up, which now suddenly turned into a tiny little dog as she uncurled it from its balled-up shape. It whimpered and trembled in her palm as she softly pressed it into her body. "What the fuck is a puppy doing here all alone?"

"It was obviously abandoned," Smurf growled, but not at me. Having worked at a shelter, my lady knew more than anyone what an abandoned puppy looked like and knew that some people were completely heartless when it came to this stuff. It angered her like nothing else to see an innocent soul being recklessly tossed to the street for no other reason than not wanting a certain type of animal. Usually the runt of the litter.

This little guy certainly looked to be just that.

Elana suddenly clapped her hands get our attention when we were both lost in the little puppy desperate trying to seek warmth from Zoe's coat.

What is it, Princess? I quickly signed to her, seeing her pout at the little animal.

Can we keep it? She begged me and, ironically, used her puppy eyes on me.

Oh fuck.

"Well..." I gingerly said, looking at Smurf who was solely focused on the little puppy. We might have to keep it for a while, I signed to Elana, which made her light up like a Christmas tree. It only made me grin back.

"Oh no," Smurf said, seeing both of our faces. She pursed her lips, before giving a heavy sigh. "Don't get her hopes up, Caleb. This puppy is in bad shape, it might not even make it. She shouldn't get attached to it too soon..."

But just then, the puppy let out a little whimper which practically had Smurf whimpering as well as she cupped it better and tried to warm it up. So much for not getting attached.

"We need to get this little one someplace warm and safe quick," She stated, taking off her scarf and wrapping the puppy up in it. "It needs food and medicine and... oh, why would anyone do this?" She hissed out, brokenly.

"Come on," I said, taking Elana's hand and standing up, just as Smurf followed our lead. "Let's get our little mans some help."

And just like that, despite Smurf's weak protests, I think it was safe to say we had found our little, if not furry, distraction.

• • •

Pupperino said take me home, country road, lmao.